Kerala Blasters vs ATK Mohun Bagan postponed; Odisha set to face the Mariners on Sunday
Indian Super League announced that the fixture between ATK Mohun Bagan and Kerala Blasters scheduled for the standard kick-off time on Thursday has been postponed due to a Covid-19 scare.
The ISL released a statement after calling off ‘Match 66’ of the ongoing 2021-22 ISL season between the two teams heavily favored to lift the trophy at the business end of the season.
“Hero Indian Super League (ISL) has decided to postpone Match No. 66 between Kerala Blasters FC and ATK Mohun Bagan scheduled to be played on Thursday, January 20, 2022, at Tilak Maidan Stadium, Vasco.”
“Assessing the situation based on the advice of the League’s medical team, Kerala Blasters FC are unable to field a team and safely prepare for and play the match.”
According to certain reports, many Kerala Blasters players have tested positive for Covid-19 and the scheduled ‘Match No. 66’ set to be played between the Tuskers and ATK Mohun Bagan on Thursday at the Tilak Maidan Stadium has now been indefinitely postponed.
The scare of the virus spreading within the whole ISL bio-bubble is rampant as a couple of fixtures involving ATK Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru, Jamshedpur, and Hyderabad have earlier been postponed due to the same reason.
In the past few days, teams like Goa, Odisha, and NorthEast United have played their respective matches with limited players and support staff available and have ended up on the wrong side of the results as well.
On the other hand, ATK Mohun Bagan was last involved in a competitive league fixture on 5th January as they played out a 2-2 draw against the high-flying Hyderabad side. Juan Ferrando’s team would be raring to get onto the field after being able to train with most of their players now allowed to train with the rest of the squad.
The Mariners was the first team that saw one of their matches getting postponed as their fixture against Odisha couldn’t go ahead and has now been rescheduled for the late kick-off on Sunday.
The league statement further read,
“Match No. 53 between ATK Mohun Bagan and Odisha FC has been rescheduled to Sunday, January 23, 2022, at the PJN Stadium, Fatorda. Kick-off is at 9:30 PM IST. The match was originally scheduled for Saturday, January 8, 2022.”
Central defender Sandesh Jhingan has been seen training under former Goa head coach Ferrando and could make his second debut for the club if he is deemed match-fit by the Spaniard.
Also read: ATK Mohun Bagan announces the return of star defender Sandesh Jhingan
The overseas stars of the Odisha squad have been in good form and ATK Mohun Bagan and they might need the services of their star defender after conceding 20 goals in the first 9 matches of the ongoing ISL season.